Thursday, July 20, 2017

Someone Prayed for This

I explained that they are a Biblical command to Jewish men to take G-d's words and bind them to our arms.

"It means that we will do what G-d tells us to do"

I asked him where he was from.

He said, "Estonia."

I cannot recall ever meeting anyone from Estonia. I asked him what he was doing in Israel. He said that he had just gotten married and came here for a vacation.

"Why Israel? Was anyone in your family Jewish?"

"My mother's grandparents were Jews, but because of the holocaust many of the family were killed and her grandparents changed their name."

"So, your mother's grandmother was a Jew?"

"Both her grandparents were Jews."

"How do you know?""My grandmother told me."

"Are you sure your mother's grandmother was a Jew?"

"That's what they said."

"If your mother's grandmother was a Jew… then your mother's mother was a Jew… and if your mother's mother was a Jew… then your mother is a Jew… and if your mother is a Jew… then you are a Jew… and you can put these on."

I took his arm, put tefillin on him and had him read the Shema in English. I explained what a big day it was for him to learn that he is a Jew and to put on tefillin for the first time. I showed him how to pray in his heart and I talked to him about the role of a Jew in the world.

I was about to tell him that he had to marry only a Jewish girl but I remembered that he just got married to a girl from Estonia and I thought, "There's no way I can tell him that he has to marry a Jewish girl. What's he going to do, divorce his Estonian bride now that he found out that he's a Jew?"

I held back and didn't say anything, but then for some reason I asked, "Anyone in your wife's family Jewish?"

"My wife is Jewish."

"What! Are you sure?"

He said that he was sure.

"Does she know that you are Jewish?

"No. She's standing right over there."

"Well, go tell her that for some very good reason, maybe her grandparents' prayers, or maybe your grandparents' prayers, but for some reason two young people living in a place where almost no Jews live and you two met and married. This is really amazing."

He started to walk away. He wanted to tell his bride that she married a Jew.

I quickly told him about Shabbos and told him that he had to follow up on this blessing.

He certainly looked different then when he first walked up to me.

Nothing happens by accident. There is a reason for everything especially when something so very unlikely happens. Someone's prayers were answered.

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